Scottish Social Media Dinner 17/02/10 – Social Media & Politics

It is an unwritten law that members of the digerati must record their experiences of meeting other members of the digerati for posterity, making mention of who they meet and liked. It’s like Technorati, but for the real world.

Given this undeniable internet mechanism, I have to begin this post by thanking Craig McGill of Contently Managed for organising the night, and Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting for bringing it to my attention. Despite my initial doubts about it, it was an extremely good night and very worthwhile. I would recommend future SSMDs to others.

There were four speakers: Tom Harris (a Glasgow MP who I seldom agree with but who does maintain an interesting blog), Patrick Harvie (co-convenor of the Scottish Greens, MSP, blogger and all round lovely chap), Andy Reeves (a Lib Dem campaign manager and blogger) and Allison Thewliss (the SNP Councillor for Calton Ward, otherwise known as Bellgrove Bella).

Some interesting points were made all round. Tom Harris focused his speech on how social media has affected his political career and how it can be used (and mis-used) by politicians past and present. His anecdotes regarding his exit from the Cabinet and current social media related scandals raised a good few wry smiles. I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing him speak again, not least because he is a man who is not afraid to publicly criticise his leader and his fellows without resorting to backstabbing.

Andy Reeves also focused on his career history, with the emphasis on how he’s helped build up the Lib Dem’s web and social media presence. Again an interesting speaker, adding to some of Tom Harris’ points.

Patrick Harvie was probably my favourite speaker of the night, and not just because I agree with the Greens more often then I care to admit. Of particular note (in my mind) was a criticism of the Scottish Parliament launching with cutting edge (bleeding edge in many respects) web services, which have failed to keep up with the advances in technology. Having spent far too much time recently reading the Report of the Consultative Steering Group, which, amongst other things was responsible for much of the digital vision of the Parliament in the ’90s, it’s an issue that has become of great interest to me. So, I’m very glad to hear a review of the Scottish Parliament website is now underway, and has recieved input from one of the most prolific bloggers in Parliament.

I was also interested the ways which Patrick uses the social media tools. Specifically, the use of twitter for ‘micro-consultation’ (my term) with constituents at short notice. This is exactly how MPs and MSPs should be using Twitter, Facebook and other services, although it can never replace traditional constituency work. I was surprised that Patrick finds blogging to be a chore however, possibly illustrating how essential a tool it has become, but also showing that it’s part of the job rather then the hobby which it is for many bloggers. As I already mentioned, Patrick seems like a very lovely man and I’m quite disappointed that I didn’t get time for a longer conversation with him.

Finally, Allison gave my second favourite speech. I was very glad that she threw in a bit of party politics, because none of the other speaker were particularly forthcoming on what they thought their opponents could be doing better. It was also great to hear what she’s doing and trying to get the council to do to engage with people via social media. It was a much more frontline point-of-view then the previous three speakers. I’ve come away thinking that in many ways, there are a lot more uses of social media for councillors then there are for national politicians, with it allowing much deeper and wider engagement with the small wards. Allison and her husband are very nice as well, and I enjoyed their company.

The crowd for the event wasn’t exactly what I expected. It was nearly entirely male dominated, with only a few women. It also seemed to be dominated by online businessmen, developers and the ilk, with a few media types thrown in. I seemed to be the only politico there other then the politicians, although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the issues raised by those outside the politics bubble were interesting.

I wasn’t the only person who was shocked by the lack of women at the event, with a very heated discussion regarding the treatment of women in politics and online taking place during the Q&A. The young women who asked the question which started it took a lot of flack from the audience, possibly for approaching the issue in a full-on manner but equally because of sexism. Her main points were very valid, with the blogosphere seemingly divided across traditional gender lines, although I’m going to have to investigate and see if, as she claimed, female politics bloggers take more comment flack then males. She specifically gave the example of the Labour blogger and activist Kezia Dugdale, who I do not read but who is highly recommended and respected by a cross-party group of bloggers.

There were a number of other interesting questions asked, which I may blog about individually at a later date, but I think that all that remains to be said is that it was a throughly enjoyable night which I would happily repeat. The next Scottish Social Media Dinner takes place in Edinburgh, at the end of March, with the theme of podcasting. I may well attend, if only to find out how effective a tool podcasts really are.

Has Environmentalism Become Embedded In British Politics?

This can be illustrated through a number of examples. Chief amongst these are British environmental policy before and after both the ‘Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer’ and the ‘Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change’. Also relevant are the environmental policy decisions surrounding the 2000 fuel tax protests and the reaction to environmental protests by the Thatcher and Major governments. The sources of environmental policy will also be discussed.

It should also be noted that while policy does not seem to be embedded within British government or any of the mainstream parties, it remains a consistent issue with the British population. Thus, it can be said to be embedded as a policy in Britain in general. The persistence of the Green Party – in particular in Scotland post-devolution – is particularly telling.

The origin of contemporary environmental policy can be traced to the London’s smog crisis of 1952, in a pollution-thickened fog descended on the city, lasting nearly a week and resulting in more then 4,000 deaths. Four years later, the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed. This placed restrictions on the amount of smoke emitted by new furnaces and factories, the emission of solid pollutants and types of fuel which could be burnt both in commercial and domestic facilities (United Kingdom 1956, pp3-9). A Clean Air Council was also established to monitor the effectiveness of the this early environmental policy (United Kingdom 1956, pp26).
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